Alarming about the DHS public rebuke towards New York is not just the agency’s contempt for New York or its apparent disregard for operational input. The shortchanging of the country’s primary terrorist target is most disturbing for what it reveals about DHS’s half-baked approach to counterterrorism. Good counterterrorism is about human intelligence, about coordination, and above all about serious consideration of the potential threats. It is not about spin, or about who has the most control, the most toys, or the most political favors to dispense.